Tag Archives: YouTube

Creating Searchable Social Media Profiles

When thinking about creating your Social Media profile there are two search possibilities you will want to consider. Google search and each of your social channels are the main areas you will want to maximize for profile search-ability. After all, you want people to find you, right?

Included here I’ll share some tips on where to use keywords in your social profiles to help make it easier for you to be found.

Let’s take a look at Google Search first.

Example Google Search | Geek Mom Media

Usually, but not always, there are 3 things you can control in a Google search result for your business or website, social profiles and pages. They are the title, URL of your page and last the description.

The first thing someone sees in a search result is the title. Generally it is recommended to keep your title between 50-60 characters in length for SEO page requirements.

Your URL will appear on the second line, below the title of search results. For social channels, the URL is normally listed as the social media domain, followed by your username.

Descriptions are generally taken from the meta name “description” in your page source and are limited to 155 characters in length. The description for Geek Mom Media reads: Geek Mom Media wants to help you succeed, in your small business, by doing the geek work so you don’t’ have to. Affordable rates for home based business.

Note: Google won’t index anything that isn’t publicly viewable, that means it must be available on your public profile. You will also need to be logged out completely to see what your profile or page looks like.

Let’s take a look at some specific Social Media Networks and how to best optimize your profiles.

Facebook Page

On a Facebook Page you’ll see something like this

Example: Google Search for Ford on Facebook

Search results on Google show the Facebook Page name, Location, number of likes, and number of people talking about the page.

The first option for a search for Cars will give you any page that listed Cars as a subcategory, main brand or product category associated with the page shown in the drop-down menu. Should you press enter after your search vs reviewing the drop-down you’ll notice options for search results under the menu:

Top, Latest, People, Photos, Videos, Pages, Places, and More

Example: Search for Cars on Facebook

Tip: Local Business Owner pages will appear under Places based on proximity to the person searching and your page category. Be sure to place your keyword in the subcategory.

Key Points: Where possible include a keyword in your Page’s name and be sure to include keywords in your page’s subcategory.

Twitter Profile

Most Twitter profiles in a Google search will include your profile name, username (@username), number of followers, number of photos, videos and number of tweets. Occasionally you’ll see one that pulls the bio or lists the username (@username), URL and a couple of your latest tweets.

Example: Ford’s listing for Twitter on Google

Tip:Look to see what your profile is actually pulling from Twitter before proceeding to change your bio and including keywords.

Again, Google will rank keyword searches higher for names and @usernames that include that keyword. The example we’ve been using is “cars”

Example: Search for cars on Google

When searching on the Twitter network, profiles related to the keyword will appear in your results. They do not need to be included in the name, bio or username of the account.

Key Points: Include any keyword in your name or @username where possible if you want to appear in Google searches for that keyword. To appear in searches done via the Twitter network include those keywords in text content; it doesn’t hurt to also include it in your name , bio and @username.

Linked In

Once again, when you include a primary keyword in the Company name of your page you may rank higher in a Google and LinkedIn searches.

Key Point: Where possible include a primary keyword in your Company listed page name.

Instagram

Profile name, @username and bio are used in a Google search result.

Tip: Including primary keywords in your bio can help to increase your results.

Pinterest

Profile name and description are used in a Google search result.

Tip: Include primary keywords in your name and description can help to increase your results. Boards with primary keywords will also appear higher in search results.

Final Take Away

Knowing the general semantics of how profiles and pages work in major social networks can help your search rankings. When configuring your other Social Network accounts, use the same type of logic. In looking at Google+ and YouTube, both being optimized via Google will place higher in a Google search when a primary keyword is included in the page name or channel name. When naming uploads for YouTube include primary keywords in video names as well.

Tip: It is kind of a no-brainer, but many times it’s not possible to include a keyword in your name or username because of your specific branding needs. Including them in your bio, first paragraph and other text can help.